Abstract [en]

Background During the latest decade the Swedish electronic industry has been exposed to intensified competition and lower profitability. The consequences have been that major retail chains have gone out of business. In order to survive, the companies need to handle their stores as efficiently as possible. As a result it’s crucial how the store manager operates the store. Therefore it is interesting to study how store managers practice their work in order to see what leads to high profitability. Our review of research reveals that there’s a knowledge gap of qualitative studies regarding how store managers should work.

Aim The aim of the study is to investigate how store managers works and from that identify factors in the store managers way of work that affects the result and leads to differences in store performance.

Methodology The study is made with a qualitative approach and is built on data from interviews with 10 store managers. The respondents have been divided in to a high-performance focus group and a comparison group in order to clarify the differences in their approach of work.

Conclusion The study shows a number of differences in how high-performance store managers handle their work. However, the biggest difference is the leadership philosophy they choose to practice, which affect everything they do.